Man arrested in connection with disappearance of Brown Co. man

CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio (WXIX) - As detectives in two local counties work together to try to find a missing man, a person has been arrested in connection to the case.

It has now been more than two weeks since Shane Bruce, 51, disappeared. Bruce is from Brown County, but investigators believe he may have been last seen in Clermont County.

Bruce’s friend, Sara said she has not known Bruce long, but he already made a positive impact on her life.

“Shane is someone who will move heaven and earth to help someone, to be kind to someone,” Sara said.

Detectives are calling the case bizarre and mysterious.

Clermont County court records show that Zachary Scott, 30, called 911 on Jan. 21 claiming that Bruce was unresponsive in a vehicle in Washington Township.

During the call, Scott tells the dispatcher: “He’s overdosed on heroin... I gave him one Narcan.”

After a few minutes, the call disconnected. The dispatcher made contact with Scott again.

Dispatcher: “I’ve got deputies down there that say that there’s no truck there.”

Scott: “Yeah, he took off, like when the Narcan came in, he took off like a bat out of hell.”

Police records show that Bruce’s parents reported him missing in Brown County the next day.

“He would have never, ever went this long without contacting them,” Sara said. “He would have gotten a hold of someone. He loved his family very much.”

Clermont County deputies reported that they spoke with Scott again on Jan. 24, and Scott had changed his story.

That led to Scott being arrested. He is currently in the Clermont County jail serving a 60-day sentence after pleading guilty to falsification.

Deputies say they searched for Bruce several times with the help of K9 teams and the drone unit, but Bruce remains missing.

According to an affidavit, they also now have Bruce’s phone and have access to his text messages.

Investigators in both counties cannot say with certainty what has happened to Bruce, or where he might be.

Sara believes that someone out there knows, and that person should start talking to detectives.

“At this point, I don’t care what he did or didn’t do, and I don’t care what did or didn’t happen. Right now, the only thing I care about is where is Shane,” she said.

Although Scott is locked up in Clermont County, Brown County detectives are handling the missing persons investigation.

They said they have gotten reports of sightings of Bruce, but none of those can be confirmed.

Anyone with information can contact the Brown County Sheriff’s Office at (937) 378-4435.

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